Recrutement d’un consultant expert en gestion de portefeuille, connaissances et résultats pour soutenir le Fonds spécial de la Facilité de préparation de projets d’infrastructure du NEPAD (NEPAD-IPPF), Côte d’Ivoire

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK GROUP

Infrastructure & Partnerships Division

Immeuble CCIA, Tour B – Avenue Jean Paul II

01 BP 1387 Abidjan 01, Côte d’Ivoire

Web: http://www.afdb.org

EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

RECRUITMENT OF A PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT, KNOWLEDGE AND RESULTS EXPERT CONSULTANT (INDIVIDUAL) TO SUPPORT THE NEPAD INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT PREPARATION FACILITY (NEPAD-IPPF) SPECIAL FUND

1. The African Development Bank hereby invites Individual Consultants to indicate their interest in the following Assignment: Portfolio Management, Knowledge and Results Expert Consultant to support the NEPAD Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (NEPAD-IPPF) Special Fund, multi-donor Special Fund managed by the African Development Bank.

2. The NEPAD Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (NEPAD-IPPF) Special Fund is a multi-donor Special Fund established by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and Donors partners, following the 2002 G8 Summit, originally as an untied bilateral Fund, to assist African countries, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and Specialized Institutions (SIs) to prepare regional infrastructure projects. In 2005, the Facility was transformed in a multi-donor Trust Fund with the entry of five other donors: Germany, Denmark, Norway, United Kingdom and Spain. Since its establishment, the NEPAD-IPPF has been hosted and administered by the AfDB, which is also a donor to the Fund. The Fund is managed by the AfDB’s Infrastructure Partnerships Division (PICU.3), under the Infrastructure and Urban Development Department (PICU), within the Vice Presidency Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization (PIVP).

3. The services to be provided under the assignment includes: (1) portfolio management activities around project cycle activities ensuring effective planning, monitoring systems, timely disbursements, grant supervision, monitoring and grant closure; (2) Portfolio management reports and analytics; (3) Operational research and analysis of project information, data, statistics, and maintaining and updating the related tools and databases; (4) generation of critical NEPAD-IPPF analytical and knowledge work, contribute to case studies, etc. (see detailed Terms of references for the assignment in Annex).

4. The Consultant will work closely with the Task Managers of the NEPAD-IPPF Special fund and other infrastructure colleagues and reports directly to the Manager for Infrastructure & Partnerships Division.

5. Interested eligible Consultants shall provide information on their qualifications and experience demonstrating their ability to provide the services (documentation, references for similar services, experience in comparable assignments, etc.), as well as an indication of availability to provide services on an exclusive basis during the assignment’s tenure by submitting: 1) a CV and 2) a motivation letter indicating reference to similar services, experience in similar assignments, etc.

6. The estimated assignment duration is for a 6 months period, renewable based on satisfactory performance, the Bank’s needs, and budget availability. The consultant will be offered a lump sum contract. Tentative Date of commencement: 1st August 2021.

7. Interested Individual Consultants may obtain further information from the email address below during the Bank’s working hours: from 08:00 to 17:00 hours, Abidjan Local Time.

8. Expressions of interest must be received by email at the address below no later than Wednesday 7 July 2021, 17H00 Abidjan time and specifically mentioning Portfolio Management, Knowledge and Results Expert Consultant to support the NEPAD Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (NEPAD-IPPF) Special Fund.

For the attention of:

Ms. Viviane Kouadjo

African Development Bank

Email: [email protected]

And copy to

Mr. Mike Salawou

African Development Bank

Email: [email protected]

9. Any questions and requests for clarifications may be sent to: [email protected]

10. Eligibility criteria, establishment of the short-list and the selection procedure shall be in accordance with the African Development Bank’s Rules and Procedures for the Use of Corporate Consultants.

11. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SHORT LIST A shortlist of three to six individual consultants will be established at the end the request of expressions of interest. The consultants on the shortlist will be judged on the following criteria based on their updated CV and motivation letter:

• General qualifications and adequacy for the proposed assignment 25% ;
• Relevant experience in the area of expertise of the assignment as described in the Terms of Reference (and understanding of the Terms of Reference if required) 60% ;
• Experience with the Bank or other international donors 10% ;
• Language proficiency 5%.

12. Please note that interest expressed by a Consultant does not imply any obligation on the part of the Bank to include him/her in the shortlist.

Terms of Reference

Individual Consultant – Portfolio management, Knowledge and Results Officer

1. Introduction and Background

The NEPAD Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (NEPAD-IPPF) is a multi-donor Special Fund established by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and Donors partners, following the 2002 G8 Summit, originally as an untied bilateral Fund, to assist African countries, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and Specialized Institutions (SIs) to prepare regional infrastructure projects. In 2005, the Facility was transformed in a multi-donor Trust Fund with the entry of five other donors: Germany, Denmark, Norway, United Kingdom and Spain. Since its establishment, the NEPAD-IPPF has been hosted and administered by the AfDB, which is also a donor to the Fund. Its governance structure includes an Oversight Committee (OC) which meets semi-annually, provides general policy direction and ensures effective governance of the Facility’s activities. The OC reviews the operational focus of the NEPAD-IPPF, the proposed areas of intervention, review the annual report of activities financed from the resources of the NEPAD-IPPF, and ensure that the activities are consistent with the Fund’s mandate. The OC is made up of seven (7) representatives: three (3) appointed by Donors, two (2) by the AfDB, and two (2) by the African Union Commission (AUC) and African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD). The current OC is chaired by Germany (KfW).

The overall goal of the NEPAD-IPPF is to contribute to enhanced regional economic development and integration on the continent, in partnership with the AUC and its development agency (AUDA NEPAD). To discharge its mission, the Fund pools resources mobilized from donors and extends grants to project promoters (African countries, RECs, SIs) for the preparation of high quality viable regional/continental infrastructure projects in the energy, transport, trans-boundary water resources management and ICT sectors, which would be ready to solicit financing from both the public and private sources. In addition, the Fund’s resources are used to strengthen the capacity of recipients in formulating infrastructure development projects and programs, so as to attract more public and private investments for the implementation of infrastructure to the benefit of the Regional Member Countries of the AfDB (RMCs). The Facility aims to be the lead project preparation Fund in Africa, playing a catalytic role in mobilizing resources for the preparation of infrastructure projects included in the Priority Action Plan (PAP) of the Program for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), in support of NEPAD’s goals for sustainable development and poverty reduction.

The Fund delivers a complex multi-variable project portfolio which requires close monitoring and management, as well as tracking results. In addition, after more than 15 years of supporting regional infrastructure development in Africa, the Fund has generated a wealth of experience, which could be harnessed in knowledge products to inform the design of new projects. Examples of this would include case studies, sector specific knowledge products, monitoring, and evaluation.

The Fund is managed by the AfDB’s Infrastructure Partnerships Division (PICU.3), under the Infrastructure and Urban Development Department (PICU), within the Vice Presidency Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization (PIVP).

2. Objectives of the assignment and scope of work

These terms of reference are for the recruitment of a full-time Portfolio management, Knowledge and Results officer (Individual Consultant). The objectives of the assignment are to: (1) oversee portfolio management, ensuring effective support systems, timely disbursements, facilitating grant supervision, monitoring and grant closure; (2) provide research and analysis of information, data, statistics, and maintaining and updating the related tools and databases; (3) facilitate the production of NEPAD-IPPF led analytical and knowledge work on project development as well as enhance its knowledge base. The specific duties of the consultant will be as follows:

Portfolio management & Results

• Work closely with project task managers to prioritize information required to facilitate substantiated decisions or serve as input to for the constitution of the portfolio and project annual work program ;
• Manage the overall portfolio and support task managers in advancing NEPAD-IPPF projects through the project cycle, in areas of procurement, developing and executing work plans, legal processing, project supervision and completion, disbursement, and reporting in collaboration with relevant AfDB’s departments to ensure timely effectiveness of grant agreements and disbursement in line with targets set across the portfolio ;
• Track active portfolio issues (Start-up delays, supervision delays, disbursements delay, projects qualifying for cancellation, slow disbursements, etc.) ;
• Lead analytical work on portfolio trends, and draw and share lessons from the portfolio analysis ;
• Incorporate lessons learned in project development and implementation for future reference ;
• Assist Task Managers in monitoring project progress through desk reviews and prepare relevant reports including the quarterly portfolio report, Project Completion Reports, as well as periodic implementation progress report in accordance with AfDB’s guidelines ;
• Keep the NEPAD-IPPF Task Managers informed of any delays, challenges, or risks to the smooth advancement of the NEPAD-IPPF portfolio ;
• Liaison with internal (e.g. other departments and trust funds) and external stakeholders (e.g. other agencies supporting related projects) to ensure effective coordination of NEPAD-IPPF projects with other ongoing related activities in the relevant countries and regions and to explore opportunities for collaboration ;
• Support the call for proposals process and participate in project review and screening of full proposals ;
• Manage a central repository for all projects and project information and undertake quality control of key documents ;
• Review periodic reports (including but not limited to quarterly, mid-year, and annual) to ensure compliance with project implementation timelines, highlighting any implementation issues and challenges ;
• Coordinate preparation and monitoring of the Fund’s annual work program and provide regular update on the basis of established processing schedule ;
• Collect, provide and process structured data on the Fund’s infrastructure-related operations (including outputs and outcomes, financing sources and data, etc.) ;
• Monitor the achievement of NEPAD-IPPF project results, and improve the collection of relevant NEPAD-IPPF results data ;
• Provide advice on improving project performance using monitoring findings ;
• Track of project results during financial close and the implementation stage.

Knowledge management

• Play a leading role in the development and implementation of the NEPAD-IPPF’s research and knowledge management strategies ;
• Carry-out research and prepare briefs on infrastructure related issues (including project preparation) ;
• Carry out analytical tasks and research on a wide range of operational, country and regional infrastructure sector related issues, and generate knowledge materials to be disseminated and published on the NEPAD-IPPF website ;
• Coordinate the development and implementation of the NEPAD-IPPF knowledge generation work program ;
• Stay tuned with the market trend on project preparation and infrastructure development to develop sector specific knowledge products that will enhance the visibility of the Fund ;
• Coordinate and liaise with Task Managers and constantly keep up-to-date with the latest knowledge and data on infrastructure-related operations ;
• Serve as a focal point for questions related to NEPAD-IPPF program and operations.

3. Deliverables and reporting

The assignment will be carried out under the overall supervision of the African Development Bank’s Infrastructure Partnerships Division (PICU.3). The Consultant will work on day to day basis and guidance of and shall report to the Division Manager, Infrastructure Partnerships Division (PICU.3). The following outputs are expected to be produced:

• Weekly portfolio monitoring dashboards ;
• Quarterly portfolio reports highlighting portfolio issues, bottlenecks and outcomes ;
• Contributions/inputs into the NEPAD-IPPF work program, annual and mid-year reports, including portfolio analysis ;
• 2 knowledge/research products developed and disseminated ;
• A completion report at the end of the assignment outlining all deliverables achieved and further work necessary.

4. Duration and place of the assignment

Timeline: The assignment will be undertaken for a period of 6 months starting 1^st August 2021. The contract could be renewed upon satisfactory performance.

Location: The consultancy requires regular full-time presence in the Bank’s offices with provision of 2 days of accrued leave per month but will remain home based as long as the Bank’s COVID-19 related travel restrictions apply, and Bank staff work from home.

Travel: The assignment will entail travel for official duty as may be assigned from time to time. All travel will be done in line with the Bank’s policies and procedures and the Consultant is required to strictly adhere to Bank travel rules. The Bank COVID-19 related travel restrictions may apply.

Equipment: The Bank will supply equipment (computer) to facilitate work for the long term and access to Bank systems (Baobab, SAP, BPPS etc.) as authorized by the Manager and in line with Bank rules.

5. Qualifications and Experience required

The prospective candidate should have the following qualifications and experiences:

• Citizenship of one of the Bank member countries
• Master’s degree or equivalent in economics, statistics, finance, international development, or any relevant discipline
• At least 5 years of professional experience including relevant experience in the field of infrastructure project preparation and infrastructure operations planning, as well as project and portfolio management and/or of special (or trust) fund operations
• Experience in developing research and knowledge projects in Africa, particularly in at least one of the following sectors: Energy, Transport, ICT, and Water
• Good working knowledge of operations, particularly the information required for project cycle activities and portfolio management, planning, work programs, budget preparation and financial management of AfDB or similar organizations
• Have experience in procurement and project studies (in at least one of the following 4 sectors: Water, ICT, Energy, Transport) following the procedures of multilateral development banks
• Client and results oriented, with strong analytical and report preparation skills
• Excellent problem-solving skills, application of business knowledge to the resolution of problems and identifies solutions
• Ability to deal with sensitive issues in a multi-cultural environment and to build effective working relations with colleagues
• Demonstrated ability to establish plans and priorities and advance initiatives with energy and commitment
• On-hand exposure to statistical and econometric analysis with strong command of statistical and econometric tools
• Expresses complex concepts, thoughts and ideas clearly through visual representation using judgement in the choice of angle for analyzing and displaying data, elements of correlation and trends requiring attention, choice of formats and visualization effects
• Excellent IT, communication and presentation skills, with proven ability to communicate effectively in English or French, with a good working knowledge of the other language
• Proficiency in personal computer and Microsoft products including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and Outlook

6. Remuneration

The remuneration will be in line with the Bank’s guidelines on remuneration of consultants. The consultant shall be paid a total monthly lump sum, comprising fee, subsistence, and other incidentals, for the duration of the assignment commensurate with the number of years of work experience. The Bank will cover economy class travel costs for the consultant who needs to travel to take up duty, and if relevant, any field mission costs as per its Travel Policy. Leave will also be granted in line with the Bank’s leave policy for short-term consultants. The consultant will be responsible for obtaining personal health insurance at their own cost.

MODEL CURRICULUM VITAE (CV)

Surname:

First Name:

Birth Date:

Nationality:

Address:

Country:

Telephone:

E-mail:

Key Qualification

Please provide (i) a summary of your experience and training highlighting the most relevant and the responsibilities which you exercised. Utilize one half-page maximum.

Education (University Level and above only)

Professional Training

Employment Record (1):

Begin with your most recent employment. For each job since your Master Degree achievement, please indicate:

• Name of the Employer ;
• Type of Activity/Business of the Employer ;
• Title / Function ;
• Place of Employment ;
• Description of main accomplishments and responsibilities.

Reference:

Please indicate the name and address of three persons with no family relationship with yourself, familiar with your character and titles.

I hereby certify that the responses which I provided above are all, to the best of my knowledge, true, complete and accurate. I acknowledge that an inaccurate statement or essential omission in a personal declaration or another document required by the African Development Bank might result in the rejection of my application, termination of my Contract or any other administrative sanction by the Bank. The African Development Bank may verify any statements which I made in this application.

Date: ___

Signature: